Michael Hibbard

All about the books I write, along with random thoughts, and babbling.

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Exploring Humanity (Part 2)

Greetings Dreamers!

This is part two in my five-part series on Exploring Humanity. Today we are going to explore a very important subject — Greed.

I’ve chosen this particular topic because it seems to be one of the major aspects of human existence that is tearing our country and our world apart. It is the epitome of selfishness, it is the cancer that plagues our society and keeps us from being one people. But the question is why?

I often scoff at people who say “Greed is Good” after the Michael Douglas movie “Wall Street”. Greed is in no way, at all, even slightly good. It is an asinine pursuit for things that do not matter. It is eating until you burst. It is acquiring endless things you can’t possibly appreciate. It taking from those who do not have. It is wrong, pure and simple — and we can’t begin to change the world until we have learned temperance. Too much of anything, yes even money, is a bad thing. But we have not learned this simple lesson. If you had a billion dollars, what would you do with it? Collect a bunch of shiny things, like a raven, and store them in ever larger abodes?

Greed is what keeps us apart. The proverbial 1% vs. the 99%, and in the end what have we gained? Absolute power corrupts absolutely. We have all seen this time and again through human history. Greed never ends well, because, my fellow Dreamers, there is always someone more greedy than you and they will try to take what you have. This is an endless war that we’ve been fighting amongst ourselves since the dawn of humankind. We are all willing soldiers. We buy things we do not need. We strive for goals that do not improve our society. We think that the measure of the person is the size of their wallet. This is not so. The measure of any person is the size of their heart.

If you have everything you’ve ever wanted, what do you do next? When there’s nothing left to buy, and you’re used to having anything you want, this can lead to darker pursuits. There are people in this world that have so much money they can do literally whatever they want — human trafficking, corruption, manipulate the populace, even get away with murder.

I am not writing my books to be rich, or famous. I am writing my books to spread an allegorical message that things in this world are going bad, and that in the end, a great calamity is going to happen — I’ve just wrapped it up in a dark fantasy novel. I know anyone who has chosen to read my blog will agree with my postings, otherwise you wouldn’t be following me. You are all fellow Dreamers, and we are the ones who have to take on the responsibility of understanding our role in this change and just start doing it.

Our world is starving. Not just the people, but the planet itself. We are raping the planet of all its resources in this pursuit of greed, and eventually, we will end up killing ourselves and turn this planet into a uninhabitable desert, like Mars. We have allowed the television, the politicians and the banks to tell us we need this or that. We are only being told half-truths or just bold-faced lies. We need to force the truth. We need to stop electing people who tell us how to live. We should be telling our governments what we want and not the other way around. Because the people in power are the ones who cultivate greed like corn in an endless field.

I am not for one moment saying that we should incite a revolution, or a war, or protests — these are fruitless endeavors, and seldom make a lasting impact that is positive. We start within ourselves, within our families, within our communities and as it spreads from person to person, the world will change. Look around you as you read this post. How many things do you have that you don’t really use or care about? How many things can you donate to someone who doesn’t have something? How many things can be recycled or reused elsewhere? When you’re at the store looking to buy something, is it something you really need? Will you even want it a month or year from now?

I don’t have a lot of money, and I never have my whole life. Every single item I retain has a purpose for me. As soon as its lost its purpose, I give it away or recycle it, or simply trash it if it has no use. Of course, there are things I simply retain because they have sentimental value. And when I go to the store to buy something I think I want, I ask myself, “Do I REALLY need this?”. I also realize that if I keep buying things, I’m just making someone else rich.

So today I leave you with this question: What would you do if I gave you a million dollars right this minute?

4 thoughts on “Exploring Humanity (Part 2)”

I like your thinking, and not just because I agree with it. You are objectively right in a lot of ways. I’m guessing you’re American as well, because more than any other culture in the world, we are raised with this idea ‘that money is salvation’. Like you stated, it can’t fix our problems. However, if used out of compassion or even logic, and beyond our ignorant assumption it’s okay to take as much as we can get, ‘WE’ can use that system of money to improve the world overnight.

I know exactly what I’d do with a million dollars- I’d grow my group (HUG) in to a transparent and financially-recyclable organization, and start a business/es to generate massive amounts of income to almost completely be redistributed to caring empathetic and active people who already fight to improve the world.

Joe thank you for kind your comment. I completely agree that a redistribution of wealth in this country. Everyone should be on the same playing field, and have all the same opportunities. You are correct that money can be used compassionately, but as you know, it seldom is. Most of the major contributions to charity by the wealthy are merely a tax haven. There should be no tax incentives for giving to charity. You should give it because you want to.

You may be interested in my latest post as it hits on some similar points.
A million dollars?…..I would buy my mother a tiny house, try to buy my sister treatment for her mental illnesses because our health system has failed to provide it and I would help those who are homeless or facing homelessness….we all need to SHARE!